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Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city



Kendrick Lamar
GOOD KID, M.A.A.D CITY


Good kid, m.A.A.d city, is the second studio album of extremely talented MC from Compton, Kendrick Lamar. Released in 2012, K-dot subtitled this album "A Short Film By Kendrick Lamar" as he displays glimpses of his personal life growing up in Compton as a teenager. The album is considered a classic in the hip hop community, helping to push the argument of Kendrick Lamar being the best rapper alive.

 Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was born on the 17th of June 1987, in Compton California. From a young age Kendrick has been aware of gang activity in Compton, as even his father Kenny was a member of a street gang (Video). As Kendrick Lamar became a teenager he started to get involved in the local gang activity as he witnessed his best friend getting shot and killed. At the age of 16, he released his first mixtape as K.Dot titled Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year (Audio) gaining him attention from the music label Top Dawg Entertainment. Kendrick saw the music as a way to escape the streets of Compton and this album tells the story of him becoming aware of that.


 The cover art paints a raw picture in itself of what life was like for Kendrick Lamar growing up. It features a picture of Kendrick with his two uncles and grandfather, with one of the uncles doing the "crip" gang sign. The album is 12 tracks long featuring some of the biggest rappers in the game such as Jay Z, Drake, Jay Rock, and Dr Dre. Throught the album Kencdrick displays outstanding lyrics, wordplay, and flow, however it's his ability to tell a story throughout his songs that makes the album. For 1 hour and 18 minutes, it feels as if you are really there enterting kendricks childhood. As of 2018, good kid, m.A.A.d city has sold over 1.75 million albums. The album maintains a high quality thorought, however there are some songs which stand out more than others such as; "The Art Of Peer Preasure", "Money Trees", "m.A.A.d City", "Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst", and "The Recipe".
Money Trees
This track is one of the most memorable from the album that wasn't released as a single and features the rapper Jay Rock (Audio). The song is about the temptations of getting money, as him and his friends see everthing as a dollar sign in which they could rob, as he raps "Then freeze that verse when we see dollar signs/You looking like an easy come up ya bish". Being the 5th track on the album, "Money Trees" gives a recap of the story so far. Kendrick raps about the house that they robbed on the previous song, "The Art Of Peer Pressure". Kendrick also references the third song of the album "Backseat Freestyle", as he mentions how rapping in the car with his friends was the only thing to free their mind from criminal activities. One of my favourtie lyrics from this song is, "Everybody gon' respect the shooter/but the one in front of the gun lives forever". Another on of my favourtie lyrics from this song is the simple, "Halle Berry, or hallelujah/pick your poison, tell me what you doin'".
  • m.A.A.d city

    This song is one of kendricks most popular and iconic with over 105 million views on youtube, featuring the rapper MC Eiht (Audio). The title is an acronym for "my Angry Adolescence divided", with the song being about his self awareness of where his life is heading and the realisation of the curpt city of Compton. This is discussed as he talks about his father telling him to get a job, in which he was fired from after his friends pressured him in to stagging a robbery. In this track Kendrick also addresses the beat down he got on song 6 "Poetic Justice", as he mentions how it brought back memories to him witnessing someone with "their brains blown out" when he was 9. My favourite lyrics from the song is "you movin' backwards if you suggest that you sleep with a TEC/Go buy a chopper and have a doctor on speed dial, I guess". This suggesting that even if you have a Tech-9 (gun), it won't be enough to protect you.

    Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst
    This track stands at over 12 minutes long and is split into two sections being, "Sing About Me" and "I'm Dying Of Thirst. This first part of the song is my favourite as Kendrick raps over a minimal production beat taking on the perspective of two people he knows with different stories. In the first verse, Kendrick is telling a story about his best freind who got killed and Kendrick was there to witness his last breath. In this verse he talks in the perspective of the dead friends older brother who is asking Kendrick to tell this story when he's famous. The second verse, Kendrick tells a story of a prostitute that he knew who was raped and murdered. In this verse he talks in perspective of the prostitutes sister, who is having a go at Kendrick for bringing attention to her sister. In the last verse, he offers his own perspective, as he tells his stories not to offend but to be realistic, hoping the story will continue to be told and help others in the same situation. My favourtie lyrics from the track is, "And you're right, your brother was a brother to me, and your sister's situation was the one that pulled me/In a direction to speak on somethin' that's realer than the TV screen". This is Kendrick addressing the previous two verses about Dave's brother and Keisha's sister.


     Theres a lot to say about this album, as the production was outstanding, flow and lyrics were slick and the features were great. However the reason this album is so good is the story line as it hooks the listener for 68 minutes, as it resembles a documentary on Kendricks youth life in Compton. This album is certaintley considered iconic as some of Kendricks best work, solidifying him as one of the best of his generation. With due time, we will see if this album is considered a classic of the rap genre, but for now we will enjoy it as the masterpeice that it is.


    Videos

     Good kid, m.A.A.d city - A Short Film by Kendrick Lamar - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGkUpjyL7y8
    Kendrick Lamar: Good Kid, m.A.A.d. Classic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF9bn9IJaJo
    Every Sample from Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid M.A.A.D City - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZMQih59zjY




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